Creating My First Recipe

[beardown2489]

I just bought a bunch of NBs structured IPA malt extract, but don't have beer smith. I plan on making an IPA between 7.5 and 8.5%. I also have a lot of extra pale dme I plan to use.

My guesstimation from using NB kits prior to this is I'll need to of these liquid extract containers plus a bit more to get up to the proper OG but I am wondering if anyone with beersmith could give me a more exact amount.



NB lists the liquid malt as 1.036 PPG.

My goal is make a batch around 6.5 gallons as I have a bucket about 7.5 gallons. Then I'll dry hop in a 6.5 gallon carboy.

I think I've got the hop schedule pretty much figured out as I've done beers of this abv before. I just need help making sure I make the proper wort for these hop editions.

Thanks

 

[iijakii]

There are plenty of online recipe calculators. http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/calculator/ for instance

 

[kh54s10]

Use this and you can figure it out and learn recipe making in the process: http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/calculator/

 

[beardown2489]

Thanks guys. Hadn't used that site.

This is what I have set out so brew.

Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 6.5 gallons
Boil Size: 3 gallons
Boil Gravity: 1.157

Original Gravity: 1.073
Final Gravity: 1.015
ABV (standard): 7.58%
IBU (tinseth): 75.93
SRM (daniels): 9.64

6 lb - Dry Malt Extract - Extra Light (46.4%)
6.3 lb - Liquid Malt Extract - Light (48.7%)

HOPS:
3 oz - Summit, Type: Pellet, AA: 17.5, Use: Boil for 60 min, IBU: 58.41
1 oz - Simcoe, Type: Pellet, AA: 12.7, Use: Boil for 15 min, IBU: 7.01
1 oz - Centennial, Type: Pellet, AA: 10, Use: Boil for 5 min, IBU: 2.22
1 oz - Columbus, Type: Pellet, AA: 15, Use: Boil for 15 min, IBU: 8.28
0.5 oz - Simcoe, Type: Pellet, AA: 12.2, Use: Whirlpool for 30 min at 175 °F
0.5 oz - Cascade, Type: Pellet, AA: 7, Use: Whirlpool for 30 min at 175 °F
1 oz - Centennial, Type: Pellet, AA: 10, Use: Whirlpool for 30 min at 175 °F
1 oz - Centennial, Type: Pellet, AA: 10, Use: Dry Hop for 0 days
0.5 oz - Simcoe, Type: Pellet, AA: 12.2, Use: Dry Hop for 0 days
0.5 oz - Cascade, Type: Pellet, AA: 7, Use: Dry Hop for 0 days

YEAST:
White Labs - San Diego Super Yeast WLP090
Starter: Yes
Form: Liquid
Attenuation (avg): 79.5%
Fermentation Temp: 66 F


Any critiques or advice?

 

[FatDragon]

Thanks guys. Hadn't used that site.

This is what I have set out so brew.

Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 6.5 gallons
Boil Size: 3 gallons
Boil Gravity: 1.157

Original Gravity: 1.073
Final Gravity: 1.015
ABV (standard): 7.58%
IBU (tinseth): 75.93
SRM (daniels): 9.64

6 lb - Dry Malt Extract - Extra Light (46.4%)
6.3 lb - Liquid Malt Extract - Light (48.7%)

HOPS:
3 oz - Summit, Type: Pellet, AA: 17.5, Use: Boil for 60 min, IBU: 58.41
1 oz - Simcoe, Type: Pellet, AA: 12.7, Use: Boil for 15 min, IBU: 7.01
1 oz - Centennial, Type: Pellet, AA: 10, Use: Boil for 5 min, IBU: 2.22
1 oz - Columbus, Type: Pellet, AA: 15, Use: Boil for 15 min, IBU: 8.28
0.5 oz - Simcoe, Type: Pellet, AA: 12.2, Use: Whirlpool for 30 min at 175 °F
0.5 oz - Cascade, Type: Pellet, AA: 7, Use: Whirlpool for 30 min at 175 °F
1 oz - Centennial, Type: Pellet, AA: 10, Use: Whirlpool for 30 min at 175 °F
1 oz - Centennial, Type: Pellet, AA: 10, Use: Dry Hop for 0 days
0.5 oz - Simcoe, Type: Pellet, AA: 12.2, Use: Dry Hop for 0 days
0.5 oz - Cascade, Type: Pellet, AA: 7, Use: Dry Hop for 0 days

YEAST:
White Labs - San Diego Super Yeast WLP090
Starter: Yes
Form: Liquid
Attenuation (avg): 79.5%
Fermentation Temp: 66 F


Any critiques or advice?

Your boil gravity is calculating your hops as if you're going to be boiling with all of the extract added at the beginning of the boil, which I trust you're smart enough not to do. You might want to delete the extra extract (or if the software/site allows it, mark it as being added at the end of the boil) in order to get a better IBU calculation for the boiled wort. And don't forget that you can only get 100 IBUs in a body of wort, so if you're boiling 3 gallons (assuming end of boil volume) and topping off with 3.5 gallons to reach your volume, your actual bitterness will be about 43% of the bitterness you had in the boil, for a maximum of about 43 IBUs. I'm not sure if brewer's friend allows you to calculate end-of-boil extract additions or IBU-dilution from top-off water, but if you can make it work, you'll see that the real numbers are going to be significantly different from your calculations.

 

[beardown2489]

I wasn't planing on using 3 oz of summit originally. It seems strange.

Also, thank you for pointing out. I'll see if the software allows for a extract addition that is not boiled for 60 minutes.

 

[beardown2489]

I wasn't aware of the maximum wort ibu rule being 100.

The calculator does have a late edition option for malt extract. That bumped up the ibus significantly.

When I raise the boil size, I also see a increase in ibus. But the numbers aren't consistent with your rule of a max 100 ibus in the wort.

 

[eko]

I use brewtoad. Pick your ingredients, setup your hop additions, it'll run calculations for you. And it's free, though you could buy a Pro subscription there's no need when you're getting started.

 

[FatDragon]

I wasn't aware of the maximum wort ibu rule being 100.

The calculator does have a late edition option for malt extract. That bumped up the ibus significantly.

When I raise the boil size, I also see a increase in ibus. But the numbers aren't consistent with your rule of a max 100 ibus in the wort.

A lot of calculators will calculate IBUs as high as you can push them in terms of alpha acids in the boil, which is why I can open Beersmith, create a new six gallon recipe with 3 kilos of LME and a kilo of Calypso hops and get 1800 IBU, but common wisdom (which I belive is based on scientific experimentation and observation, but maybe not) is that you can't really get beyond about 100 IBUs in solution. If your software calculates beyond that, you're best off adjusting that number to 100 in your head and then recalculating for dilution as you top off with water.

 

[Calder]

A lot of calculators will calculate IBUs as high as you can push them in terms of alpha acids in the boil, which is why I can open Beersmith, create a new six gallon recipe with 3 kilos of LME and a kilo of Calypso hops and get 1800 IBU, but common wisdom (which I belive is based on scientific experimentation and observation, but maybe not) is that you can't really get beyond about 100 IBUs in solution. If your software calculates beyond that, you're best off adjusting that number to 100 in your head and then recalculating for dilution as you top off with water.

100 is not the max IBUs you can get in wort. It can hold more, and higher gravity worts hold more than lower gravity worts. True, you start getting to a point if diminishing returns, where additional hops don't add much more when you are in that range. I think I have seen test results where the number has been in the 150 area.

As fermentation goes on, yeast will pull IBUs out of solution. Generally, fermented beer seems to have a max IBU limit about 100.

 

[FatDragon]

100 is not the max IBUs you can get in wort. It can hold more, and higher gravity worts hold more than lower gravity worts. True, you start getting to a point if diminishing returns, where additional hops don't add much more when you are in that range. I think I have seen test results where the number has been in the 150 area.

As fermentation goes on, yeast will pull IBUs out of solution. Generally, fermented beer seems to have a max IBU limit about 100.

Thanks for clarifying. Just last night I listened to the Brew Strong episode on IBU calculation with Glenn Tinseth (a few years old by now), and they talked about the theoretical 100 IBU limit, which I know is considered common wisdom among a lot of homebrewers. They mentioned testing a beer claiming 200-250 IBUs on the label and finding it actually measured out to 92. Since they had talked so much about yeast scrubbing out AA's, I figured that wort must be able to exceed 100 IBUs to reach even 92 in the bottle, but I decided not to mention anything like that in my above post because I didn't have any data or numbers to offer, just speculation.

The key, as they mention in that podcast, is to calculate your IBUs consistently every time so you can dial in your brewing. If your software tells you your beer has 75 IBUs, odds are that after fermentation you're going to end up with less than 75 IBUs, but if your process is consistent, your 75 IBU beers are going to have roughly the same bitterness every time, so the best advice is to stick to your calculations and leave worrying about the actual IBU calculation to the pros. As a brewer who tops off after the boil, you need to recognize that dilution will affect your bitterness and lower the ceiling of how bitter you can make a beer by a percentage equal to your top-off water, so if you want to push your bitterness to higher levels, you need a bigger boil.

 

[beardown2489]

Ok.

Lots of science here I hadn't really gotten into yet.

I'll try boiling as much as possible this time around and see what happens.

This will be the first 6.5 gallon batch I've made. If the beer doesn't turn out properly bitter, I'll drop it back down to 5 gallons until I purchase an outdoor setup that allows me to do a full boil.

Thanks guys. I've been learning lots about yeast and think im getting a lot out of that. Seems my next focus should be hops utilization.